The Elk are winning!

There are estimated to be 100,000 elk in Finland and during winter young pine trees are their main source of food. The elk love to eat the new growth at the crown of the sapling. The good news is this doesn’t kill the tree but does cause it to grow crooked therefore making it considerably less valuable as sawn timber.

Some of the foresters spray their saplings with an array of natural and chemical deterrents but few seem to be effective. The alternative is culling. The government grant hunting licences each year but only for a fraction of the 50,000 winter population that the Finnish Forest Research Institute (METLA) estimate would have to be culled to give the forests a better chance of being productive.

For the full story in Helsinki Sanomat click here.